Copyists of histories and recorders of exploits state that when the Arab and Persian forces were on the point of encountering each other to fight, Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, who had been attacked by sciatica, ordered Amru B. Ma’di Karab and other champions noted for their eloquence and fluency of speech to go among the troops and to excite them for the coming struggle, while he himself remained, on account of the just-named disease, with his family in the citadel of Qâdesyah, waiting for the breeze of prosperity to blow. On that day Abu-l-mahjan Thaqfy, with whom Esfendyâr and Rastam* would have been unable to cope in a fight with the lance, happened to be confined for some breach of discipline in the fort of Qâdesyah by order of Sa’d. Rastam Farrahzâd was occupied in arranging the lines of his army, and ordered it to be divided into thirteen corps drawn out in the rear of each other in lines, while the Musalmâns had not more than three lines. The brave warriors of both armies having determined to jeopardize their lives, submitted to Divine predestination, so that the battle commenced in which no other envoys moved except arrows, and [the warriors being ardent to fight] there was no necessity for permission to draw swords:
What permission needs the sword to shed our blood?
The water flows by standing orders to the thirsty people.
It is said that there were thirty-three elephants in the army of Rastam, all of which were in action on that day, each of them carrying on his back nearly twenty champions. When the elephants were put in motion, the relict of Mothanna, whose name was Solma, and who happened on that occasion to be sitting on the rampart of the fortress by the side of her [new] husband, Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, looking at the combat, said to him: ‘On a day like this there would be need for one like Mothanna.’ Then the jealousy of Sa’d impelled him to slap her on the face.—In that battle the elephants trampled numerous Musalmâns under foot, and the white one, who was perfect in fighting, had injured them greatly. That elephant had, during the time of Shâpûr Dhu-l-aktâf, been enrolled in the ranks of the royal elephants, and the writer of these lines declares that the words of Sheikh Nizâmi, in his ‘Sikandar Nâmah,’* which are as follows, are not borne out by facts:
There are three animals which in three abodes
Are all short-lived and must perish soon:
The horse in India, the elephant in Persia, and cat in China.
Cats live long in China and elephants in Persia, because [this white elephant was still alive, although] from the reign of Shâpûr till that of Yazdejerd nearly two centuries and a half had elapsed; it accordingly appears that an elephant is very long-lived, and perhaps attains a thousand years of age in Hindustân, while he lives two hundred in Persia, but Allah knows best the true state of the case.
It is related that when the champions of both sides had come forward, the Persians, having laid their hands upon their bows, poured a great rain of arrows upon the Musalmâns, wounding and capturing also many of them with javelins and the lasso. Qays B. Hobyrah, witnessing this scene, said to Khâleb B. Ghurfatt Khodzaa’yi, who was the Amir of Amirs: ‘Circumstances require that we should unanimously attack the adherents of iniquity.’ Khâled B. Ghurfatt having approved of this opinion, hereon gave the signal for a general assault to the army of Islâm, who then attacked the partisans of wretchedness, and after using lances drew their swords, so that the fire of the conflict blazed. Zaid B. A’bdullah Tukhaghy, the bearer of one of the victorious banners, was, however, killed, and after him also his brother Arttâ, who had taken the banner, attained martyrdom. Hereon A´assum B. A’mru, and A’mru B. Ma’dy Karab, and Jaryr B. A’bdullah Bakhly, with many other brave Arabs, assailed the opponents from various sides, breaking up the positions of their right and left flanks in such a manner that they penetrated into the centre. Rastam Farrahzâd’s vein of bravery having become excited, he alighted from his charger, and being joined by great and noble Persians, hastened towards the Arab army, with success enough to stagger it to some extent. Abu-l-mahjan Thaqfy, whose feet were chained, was sitting in a corner on the top of the Kiosk, and witnessed the scene, and being impressed by the advantage the Persians were gaining, said to Berâm, the son of Sa’d: ‘I hope thou wilt take off the chains from my feet, set me free, give me arms and the piebald horse of Sa’d, to enable me to deal with these unbelievers in such a manner that they will remember it till the day of the resurrection! I swear by God that, if I remain alive and return to this castle, I shall again put the fetters on my feet.’ Berâm, trusting in his words, took off his bonds, gave him the arms and horse of Sa’d, whereon Abu-l-mahjan mounted the piebald charger, bandaged his face, and making his appearance on the battlefield, galloped now to the right and anon to the left, prostrating officers to the ground in every direction, without becoming known to any of the Musalmâns, who were amazed at the alacrity with which he dealt out his blows. All of a sudden, however, the eyes of Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss alighted on him from the top of the Kiosk, and he asked: ‘Who is this horseman?’ The people replied: ‘We know not more of him than thyself.’ Sa’d continued: ‘If it were customary to the apostle—u. w. bl.—to make his appearance in a battle-field like this, I would suppose this man to be his lordship.’ Whilst, however, running about and prostrating men, he happened to approach the citadel of Qâdesyah, and Sa’d, looking well, exclaimed: ‘The piebald horse on which this fellow is mounted belongs to me, and so does the cuirass he wears. His movements resemble those of Abu-l-mahjan, and if I knew not that he is imprisoned in this Kiosk, I would say this man was Abu-l-mahjan.’ At nightfall Abu-l-mahjan made his appearance at the gate of the fortress and shook the ring of it, whereon a man who was expecting him opened it; Abu-l-mahjan then alighted from his horse, laid aside his arms, and placed chains on his feet. Afterwards the wife of Sa’d asked her husband about the events of the battle, and he replied: ‘The Musalmâns were on the point of being disgracefully routed, when God the Most High and Glorious conferred the favour upon us of sending a horseman to aid us, and I know not whether he was a Jinn or a human being, but he strengthened the courage of the Musalmâns, and made them victorious after they had become weak and despondent.’ She then queried whether he had ascertained anything about his personality, and Sa’d replied: ‘No; but his horse and arms resembled mine.’ Hereon his wife narrated to Sa’d what Abu-l-mahjan had done from first to last, and then he went to Abu-l-mahjan, praised him, ordered his fetters to be taken off, and said: ‘I have determined not to blame thee any more for drinking wine.’ Abu-l-mahjan replied: ‘I have also pledged myself no more to drink wine.’ Some narrate that Abu-l-mahjan was confined in a room of the castle, and that when the drumming and shouting had increased, he asked a slave-girl what the state of the army of Islâm was. She replied that it appeared to be somewhat critical, whereon he became sorrowful, and having through the intervention of the said girl obtained from Solma, the wife of Sa’d, a horse and arms, he got rid of his fetters.
It is narrated that on the said day Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss had made an arrangement with the Amirs and confidential officers that, on hearing the shout of the Takbyr the first time from the top of the castle, they should draw out the troops in lines, each man standing at his post and ready for the battle; on the second shout they were to lay their hands upon their bows, arrows, swords and lances; and at the third to make an onslaught upon the enemy. They acted according to this injunction, whereon the fire of the battle was kindled. Ghâleb B. A’bdullah Azdy rushed out from the lines and shouted for a champion, whereon a prince wearing a diadem on his head advanced, but was captured by him and taken to Sa’d. A´assum B. A’mru, obtaining possession of the commissariat of Rastam, succeeded in conveying food and confectionery to Sa’d, who found them delicious, and sent them to the lines of his troops for consumption. O Allah, provide for us!—Meanwhile, A’mru B. Ma’di Karab entered the lists, and engaged in a duel with a celebrated Persian warrior; who discharged first an arrow against him, which cut the bow-string of A’mru in two; whereon A’mru, grasping the waist of his antagonist, succeeded in throwing him to the ground, against which he knocked him in such a manner that he broke his neck. When that humbled fellow had departed to hell with a broken neck, A’mru took possession of his turban and brocade-robe, shouting to his adherents: ‘Act also thus!’ But they replied: ‘O father of the bull, who could act as thou hast acted?’
On that day the elephants attacked the right and the left wing of the Musalmâns, frightening the horses of the victorious troops; whereon A´assum B. A’mru rushed with some men of Yamâmah against the elephants, severed the girths with their swords, so that the men mounted on these animals, and fighting bravely, were slain. The millstone of war had from the first till the dormitory prayers been turning with the blood of friend and foe in that action which the chroniclers of religious wars have called ‘the day of extermination.’—According to one tradition, five hundred Musalmâns quaffed on that day the potion of martyrdom. When, however, a part of the night had elapsed, both parties folded up the carpet of contention and craved for repose. At dawn of the next day, which they call ‘the day of lamentation,’ and when the sovereign of luminaries had raised his standard with a garment of blood, Sa’d threw a ray of consideration upon the interment of the martyrs of Qâdesyah; and according to a tradition of many historians, which would imply a deficiency in the account just given, cavalry troops arrived on that day from Syria to reinforce the defenders of Islâm. The details of these events and explanations of these statements are that when Abu O’baydah B. Jurrâh had received the letter of O’mar, requesting him to aid Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, he engaged in recruiting rank-breaking forces, and ordered levies of the Rabya’h, of Misser, and brave troops from the Hejâz as well as from Yemen, to march for the purpose of reinforcing Sa’d and repelling the unhallowed foe at Qâdesyah. He entrusted the reins of the command of the victory-portending troops to the grasp of Hâshem B. O’tbah B. Abu Woqqâss, and ordered many notables, such as Qa’qa’ B. A’mru, and Qays B. Hobyrah B. A’bdu-l-ghouth Almurâdy, and Hâreth B. A’mru-l-i’jly, and Ans B. Ala’bbâs to gird their loins of diligence and to accompany him. Therefore, Hâshem marched with six, and according to the tradition of Aa’thum Kûfi with ten, thousand men from Syria, and after travelling for awhile reached the battlefield on the above-mentioned day; whereon Qa’qa’ B. A’mru, with the dust of the road still upon him, stepped into the lists and shouted for a champion, and was forthwith encountered by two Persian magnates, namely, Dhu-l-hâjeb and Bahman Jâdû, and knowing that one of the two was Bahman, he shouted: ‘By the exploits of Abu O’baydah, and of Salytt, and of Qays, and of those who fought in the action of the bridge!’ Then he drew forth his hand from the sleeve of attack and sent Bahman to hell, in which locality Qa’qa’ soon caused also his companion Dhu-l-hâjeb to join him. The Persian army having become dismayed and broken-hearted by the death of these two experienced and iron-shattering heroes, Qa’qa’ remained standing on the battlefield, and again shouted: ‘Is there any champion?’ Whereon at last two antagonists, the one Fyruzân by name, and the other Bandwân, having tied the fillet of impudence to their forehead, turned to Qa’qa’; but also Hâreth B. Ttabyân issued forth from the ranks of the Musalmâns, and, joining Qa’qa’, slew Bandwân, while Qa’qa’ sent Fyruzân to his permanent abode. It is said that on that day Qa’qa’ made thirty onslaughts, in each of which he sent one of the Persians to the infernal regions, the last of them all being Barzachumihr Hamdâny. The author of the ‘Ghoniah,’ after narrating the exploits of Qa’qa’, adds: ‘Then Quttbah Ala´ur, the prince of Sejestân, came forth, and each of the two [just-mentioned Arabs] slew his antagonist.’
It is related that on ‘the day of lamentation’ one thousand of the monotheists attained martyrdom, while ten thousand of the unbelievers hastened in the direction of Jahannum. When the monarch of the host of stars had declined to the western regions, and the illuminated world had donned the garments of the dynasty of A’bbâs,* and after one-half of the dark night had elapsed, both armies, being exhausted and afflicted by the contest, ceased to fight, each retiring to its position, but leaving detachments to watch each other. On the third day, called ‘the day of immersion,’ the opposing armies again drew themselves up in battle array, attacking each other with their swords, and arrows which could pass through anvils, throwing dismay into the caskets of hearts, to verify the saying:
Let every intelligent man know
That there is a way from heart to heart.
Rivulets of blood flowed in the plain of the battlefield, and the millstone of war was put in motion by the gore of Arabs and Persians:
Attach not thy heart to this revolving dome; for this machine
Is a mill which is turned by the blood of dear people.
During the height of the battle and strife, when the elephants ran in every direction assailing and scattering the adherents of Islâm, Sa’d despatched a message to Qa’qa’ and to his brother, enjoining them to make efforts to bring to an end the injuries which the white elephant, the largest of them, was inflicting. Those two heroes accordingly deprived the two eyes of the said elephant of the power of vision, and in the same way two other men of the victorious army succeeded, by the orders of Sa’d, in disabling another elephant by means of their lances and arrows, whereon these two wounded elephants began to run, and, the others following them in their flight, broke the lines of the Persians, who were confounded by this catastrophe, and the roaring of both armies became so extraordinary that both ceased to fight that fourth night, which is called ‘the night of howling.’ Describing the action, the abridgment of Ebn Jauzy has also the following passage: ‘They fought obstinately till the morning nearly dawned, and this night is called “the night of howling,” because the people left off speaking and howled; and the retreat of the Musalmâns took place without the permission of Sa’d.’ During that night the Arab?? tribes, such as the Bani Tamym, and Nakha, and Nahylah and Kindah, made onslaughts one after the other, by turns, till daylight, and when the sun rose, Qa’qa’ B. A’mru, turning the troops aside, said: ‘Be one hour patient in fighting, because patience and victory are twins; endurance and conquest are companions.’ On this occasion Qays B. Hobyrah, and Sha’th B. Qays, and A’mru B. Ma’dy Karab, and Ebn Dhi-l-sahmyn and Ebn Albard B. Alhalâli crowded around the standards and said: ‘It is proper that the Persians should not be allowed to jeopardize their lives more than we, and to court death more eagerly than we!’ The troops, having been encouraged by these words of the leaders, doubled their efforts, and fought from the morning of the fourth day till the first prayers. At that time a powerful wind commenced to blow, raising clouds of dust, and throwing to the ground the canopy which sheltered Rastam Farrahzâd, whereon he, unable to bear the heat of the sun, left his throne, and took refuge in the shadow of a mule, which was heavily loaded with silver and bullion. On that occasion Qa’qa’ approached the Persian commander with a detachment of troopers, one of whom, Halâl B. O’lqamah by name, cut the belt of the mule in whose shadow Rastam was sitting, so that the load fell on the back of Rastam; the pain he felt and the fear of losing his life impelled him to throw himself into the river, which was flowing near. When Halâl saw a man with a costly diadem on his head, a gold-embroidered belt around his waist, and a large gold-encrusted cuirass on his breast, leap into the water, he knew who he was. Therefore he immediately followed Rastam, and having pulled him out by the feet from the water, severed his proud head from the body, placed it on the top of a spear, mounted the couch on which Rastam had been sitting, and exclaimed, ‘I have killed Rastam, by the Lord of the Ka’bah!’ Most historians are of opinion that Rastam was slain by Halâl, but Abu Hanifah Dinwari alleges that, according to some, Rastam, having been drowned in the river of Qâdesyah, surrendered his life to the owner [of hell]. It is recorded in the ‘Tarjumat Mostaqassa,’ that when Halâl B. O’lqamah arrived he caught sight of Rastam in the battlefield, who discharged an arrow at him, whereon Halâl approached him, killed him with one blow, and plundered him. Sa’d presented Halâl with all the things he had taken, and among them the diadem of Rastam, valued at a hundred thousand dinârs. It is related in some traditions that Zohrah B. Juyah, who was pursuing the fugitives, encountered Jâlynûs, fought a duel with him, killed him with his poisoned sword, and gave the plunder which he had taken to S´ad, who, however, presented him with the whole of it, though it was worth seventy thousand dirhems; he ordered also that anyone killing an idolater might retain the booty taken from him. It is said that on this battlefield Zorâr B. Alkhattab obtained possession of two shields encrusted with jewels, and, not knowing their value, sold them for thirty thousand dirhems, whereas their actual value was two hundred and twenty-two thousand dirhems. It is related in the ‘Mostaqassa’ that after Rastam and Jâlynûs had been slain, the army of the enemies fled, the adherents of Islâm pursuing, capturing and slaying them, so that one hundred thousand of them were either killed or made prisoners, while three thousand men of the victorious army attained martyrdom. It is said that so many goods of all kinds and cash in gold fell into the hands of the Musalmâns that the calculator of imagination would despair of enumerating them, and would confess his inability to do so. It is said that after the Persians had been routed, an Arab asked, ‘Who will give me white pieces in exchange for red ones?’ meaning, ‘Who will give me silver for gold?’ Two donkey-loads of camphor having fallen into the possession of the Arabs, they imagined it to be salt, but when they had learnt the truth they swapped it for salt, weight by weight.’
It is known for certain that in those times Yazdejerd had issued orders to post men from the gate of his castle in a line, as far as the camp of the army, who were to tell each other what was occurring, so as to convey to him information at the very moment anything happened to take place, and in this manner Yazdejerd B. Shahryâr was apprised of the deaths of Persian grandees as well as of the slaughter and captures in the army. Abu Hanifah states that before Rastam had been killed and the Persian army routed, Yazdejerd had despatched Tukhâr Khân, who was distinguished above his peers by intelligence and valour, to reinforce Rastam with numerous troops. When, however, he had encamped at Dyr Ka’b, he met some fugitives who informed him of the result of the battle. Tukhâr Khân then remained on the spot, and took charge of all the fugitives, but when this became known to the victorious army, it marched towards him, and when the interval between the two parties had become small, Tukhâr Khân, drew out his forces in battle array opposite to the Musalmâns, he himself stepping forth in the exuberance of his temerity, and shouting: ‘A man! a man!’ Zohayr B. Selym Alazdy then came out of the ranks of the combatants for the religion, and took his position opposite to Tukhâr Khân, who immediately alighted from his horse on beholding his antagonist, and Zohayr did the same. The duel began with wrestling, and Tukhâr Khân, having succeeded in prostrating Zohayr, sat down on his breast and drew a poniard; at that moment, however, the finger of Tukhâr Khân happened to get into the mouth of Zohayr, who chewed it, so that his antagonist, unable to bear the pain, jerked himself up from the breast of Zohayr, whereon the latter, grasping the poniard of Tukhâr Khân, slew him therewith. He then took the horse, coat, cuirass and belt of his antagonist, and brought them to Sa’d, who ordered him to don the garments of Tukhâr Khân and to mount his horse. It is said that the first Arab who put a bracelet on his hand was Zohayr.
Qays B. Zobeir having attacked the right flank of the Persian army, prostrated Jalûs, who was its chief and commander. The Musalmâns then began to slaughter the unbelievers in all directions, and routed them in such a manner that everyone able to save his life by flight considered himself lucky, and never halted till he reached Madâin. When, by Divine favour, the standards of Islâm had been elevated, and those of the professors of unbelief and of darkness had been depressed, the companions of certainty prevailed over the followers of vanity, so that the saying, ‘The truth will be exalted,’ was verified. Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss then despatched a messenger on a swift-footed camel with an account of the victory to Madinah, and in those days O’mar was in the habit of walking out nearly one farsakh in the direction of E’râq to make inquiries from travellers concerning the champions of the religion, and one day he happened to meet a fellow riding quickly whom he hailed from a distance, asking him for news. He replied: ‘The Musalmâns have become victorious, and the idolaters abased.’ O’mar was rejoiced, returned in the company of the camel-rider to Madinah, and interrogated him. The man knew not who his questioner was, but on ascertaining it in Madinah, he afterwards asked O’mar: ‘Commander of the Faithful, why hast thou not made thyself known to me?’ He replied: ‘There is no blame on thee.’ He thereon received the letter and read it to the Musalmâns, whereon the simple and the gentle opened their mouths in praises to the Almighty, made prostrations of gratitude to God, and the rich distributed alms to persons worthy of them.